Top Ten Worst Fish In A Reef

[salineh2o]

I am on my second reef tank.

I have been in the hobby for almost five years!!! ( a rookie )

I bought a "queen coris wrasse" ( juvenile")

It is a beautiful fish!!!! She is now an adult and is wreaking havoc in my tank.

It turns Clams over..........it constantly stirs up the bottom..... It is a fish that I will eventually empty my tank to catch.

The point of this thread is to identify the top ten fish you should never buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAMSELS DON'T COUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!

TELL US THE TOP TEN FISH YOU SHOULD NEVER BUY!!!!

.................and why??????

 

[Sk8r]

1. Ghost eel.
2. Dottyback
3. Wolf eel
4. Wrasse
5. Fairy wrasse
6. butterfly fish [any]
7. don't I get one invert? elephant ear mushroom! alt: false cleaner goby.
8. Most angels.
9. Parrotfish.
10. Boxfish, trunkfish.

 

[salineh2o]

Mosty angels??

Dotty backs??

You are not talking from experience...........I love my Angels......................coral beauty...Flame Angel.........Blue ring!!

I have a black head basslet........

I would sacrifice them all to catch the Coris...............

 

[Dr Begalke]

Not all damsels are bad, Alleni damsels are great reef fish.

 

[salineh2o]

You have only been in the hobby for 40 years.................what do you know?????????? LOL

 

[Peter Eichler]

Odds are your fish is a subadult since they grow to over 2 feet long...

Here's my shot...

Morish Idol: Almost always die prematurely and will often take a liking to various corals.

Orange Spotted Filefish: Specialized coral eater and will usually die even in a reef.

Most Triggerfish: Generally mean and will usually sample your cleanup crew and just about anything else in the tank. There are a few exceptions.

Most Butterfly Fish: Most will sample corals and many are specialized coral feeders.

Parrotfish: Get quite large and will chow down on stony corals.

All Angelfish besides Genicanthus sp.: Always a risk to pester corals, the larger genus are the most troublesome.

That about covers the worst choices.

 

[salineh2o]

Yes they are......... but they are just too aggressive for other reef fish

 

[salineh2o]

Yes , But I am looking for personal stories............. We all know that some fish are bad and some are good!!!

But the Local fish store should not be selling certain fish............................Domino Damsels are reef destroyers!!!!!

but they sell them anyway.

 

[Peter Eichler]

I think Dottybacks can be great reef fish. Some aren't all that aggressive and can live well with other community fish. Also, I think there are plenty of wrasses that do great in a reef aquarium.

Salin, here's a somewhat related list that you might find interesting.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1157901

 

[Sk8r]

lol! I had a yellow dottyback who was the devil incarnate, but nay, I will trade you all coral munching angels for a ribbon eel!

 

[Hypo]

yellow tang
purple tang
hippo tang
sailfin tang
achilles tang
clown tang
naso tang
kole tang
powder blue tang
sohal tang

 

[Furnman]

I brand new to the salt water forum and hope to set up a FOWLR 125-180 gallon tank.

Does this mean that I will not be able to have the fish that are on this thread?

 

[salineh2o]

Sk8r........... this fish is not only the devil!!!!!!!!!!!!


It has alot of "Jim Carey" mixed in....... I swear he has given me the finger on many occasions!!!

 

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10768887#post10768887 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sk8r
lol! I had a yellow dottyback who was the devil incarnate, but nay, I will trade you all coral munching angels for a ribbon eel!

Pseudochromis fuscus is one of the meaner Pseudochromis IMO, as are a lot of the Caribbean pseudochromis. However, I've never had and never will have a reef tank that doesn't have a speudochromis in it. Heck, even my frag tank has a P. flavivertex.

 

[salineh2o]

I love my Dotty back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[salineh2o]

I am willing to take out a contract on the Wrasse though!!

Anybody interested!!!!!

 

[salineh2o]

Holy crap Hypo!!!

I have seven of those fish!!!

 

[ACBlinky]

Fish unsuited to a reef? Let's see...

1. shark
2. dragon wrasse (also known as the 'rockmover wrasse')
3. stonefish - unattractive, hides, will eat tankmates, very poisonous
4. pseudochromis (dottybacks) - not invert-safe, extremely territorial, nasty little guys. Unfortunately they're absolutely beautiful, and small, so it's very tempting to add them to a reef.
5. hawkfish - perch on corals, and they're not at all invert-safe! Also fiercely territorial and will chase gentle fish like gobies
6. Exalis brevis blenny and others in the same family - they look like algae eaters, but they're actually corallivores
7. maroon & saddleback clownfish - IMO & IME really best in their own tank, as a pair can terrorize tankmates to the point of floor surfing (unless they're all housed in a BIG reef)
8. eels, groupers, lions, sweetlips etc. - big fish that will potentially consume all your inverts and their tankmates as they grow
9. pipefish/seahorses - best in a species tank
10. large angelfish - can't be trusted not to sample anything and everything growing in the tank, including prized corals

Other things I often see for sale that are not suited to a reef IMO:

jellyfish
horshoe crabs
xanthid crabs
shamefaced crabs
arrow crabs (though some people have no problems, I wouldn't try it)
camel shrimp
sea apples
elephant ear mushrooms
condylactus anemones (they're known to eat fish; even clowns they're hosting are at risk)
whelks (some are fine, like nassarius, but others eat clams and snails)
large conchs (unless housed in a BIG tank) - some can grow up to a foot long!
lobsters
some large species of hermits (some are very destructive and eat nearly everything, including coral, and get baseball-sized)
sea pens (nearly always die)
basket starfish (nearly always die)
'spanish dancers' and other nudis/flatworms (specialized feeders that will certainly starve to death in a tank, unless they're fed particular corals)

 

[edwing206]

Why not fairy wrasses? I have several in my tank and they do fine. Never had one carpet surf on me.

 

[SDguy]

Personal experience:

1. Argi angel. Absolutely ripped apart my acros and gorgonians.

2. Lined blenny. Scraped some tissue off just about every SPS in my tank. Totally killed several montis. We'll see if the birdsnest recovers. The other one, he also killed.

3. Yellow streak fairy wrasse. One word....a**hole.